Earth to Politicians: Americans Support Taxing the Rich

Amy Traub

Earth to Politicians: Americans Support Taxing the Rich

Last month, I discussed a new poll by the Pew Center for People and the Press which found growing public support for progressive policy. This week another public opinion survey, the April Gallup Poll, lends support to the findings as they relate to wealth, inequality, and taxation.

Their headline for these Gallup poll results? "Americans More in Favor of Heavily Taxing Rich Now Than in 1939" The poll found:

* growing support for progressive taxation

* two-thirds of Americans believe wealth should be more evenly distributed

* a significant majority of Americans feel the wealthy currently pay too little in taxes

These results also complement the conclusions of DMI's own, more local survey of 101 New York City leaders, which revealed strong support for progressive taxation.

The accumulation of findings like these should continue to chip away at the conventional wisdom in politics which still insists that raising taxes -- including taxes on the wealthy -- is always unpopular and politically risky.

Nor is this just government-by-opinion poll. We already know that progressive taxation is good policy.

A recent article by economist Robert H. Frank reinforced the point: we can afford such vital public services as universal health coverage only if top income earners pay more taxes. What's more, both economic theory and empircal evidence demonstrate that trickle-down economics, the archaic argument against taxing the wealthy, is unsound and "ripe for abandonment."

Politicians take note.

Posted at 7:52 AM, Apr 23, 2007 in Progressive Agenda | Tax Policy | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Comments

I would agree that our tax system should be made more progressive than it currently is; with the "Swiss cheese" tax code we have, the lawyers of affluent Americans have had plenty of success finding ways to make sure their clients don't have to pay their fair share. This is an especially interesting phenomenon when its contrasted with what we see in the New York Times article that Elana brought up in her posting last week. What I'd like to see is a focus by progressives in the 31 states that currently do not have an Earned Income Tax Credit to get this on the books in their respective states. It's one of the most simple and effective anti-poverty measures ever put to use in this country, and from a political standpoint, its almost impossible to articulate a case against it. Of course, the debate shouldn't stop there...progressives should be looking at innovative ways of making our tax system more fair, especially to the working poor. Offsets for regressive taxes like the sales tax? Tax credits for money spent on things like school supplies, childcare costs, etc.? There's a ton of potential for really exciting, innovative reform in this area.

Great post Amy. This is a problem especially pronounced in New York. We're a rich state. But the wealthier you are in New York, the less you pay in taxes as a percentage of your income.

If you look at all the taxes a person pays - income, payroll, sales, property, capital gains - it turns out that the middle class and working class pay higher percentages of their overall income in taxes than the wealthy.

Sooner or later we have to face this. This year the state was rolling in money so they could increase spending and cut property taxes. We may not be so lucky in next year's budget. It's a topic that deserves the attention of our elected leaders.